- 158 


44 


T87 


lopv 1 



THE 



TRUTH UNVEILED; 



OR, 

A CALM AND IMPARTIAL EXPOSITION 

OP THE 

ORIGIN AND IMMEDIATE CAUSE 

OF 

THE TERRIBLE RIOTS IN PHILADELPHIA, 

On May 6th, 7th and 8tb, A. D. 1844. 



BY 

A PROTESTANT AND NATIVE PHTLADELPHIAN. 



PHILADELPHM : 

PRINTED BY M. FlTfflAN, 72 NORTH SECOND STREET. 



184.4.. 



; VVM 


SOLD B\ 
J. CUWrN-GFIAM, 


Books 


Ft.f.ER Jc 


Ptatiover. 


No. 


104 .S. r/iir-/ street, 
PHTr.APKr.pntA. 



THE 



TRUTH UNVEILED; 



A CALM AND IMPARTIAL EXPOSITION 



OF THE 



ORIGIN AND IMMEDIATE CAUSE 



OF 



THE TERRIBLE RIOTS IN PHILADELPHIA, 

On May 6th, 7th and 8 th, A. D. 1844. 



nv 
A PROTESTANT AND NATIVE PHILADELPHL4N, 



^' 



U. S. ." 



PHILADELPHM : 

PRINTED BY M. FITHIAN, 72 NORTH SECOND STREET. 

184.4. 



TO THE 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In a country, the sovereignty of which is placed in the laws enact- 
ed by its people, and under the benignant operation of a Constitution, 
which extends to all the most precious and inalienable rights, that 
liberty of conscience, which is the holiest privilege of man, together 
with those sacred principles of equal and exact justice to the most ab- 
ject and lowly, have been boldly outraged and violated! In a land, 
where heretofore the oppressed found a sanctuary, and the unfortunate 
a sure asylum — where the stranger from afar was welcomed as a bro- 
ther, and the adventurer was protected in every lawful enterprize, a 
crusade, sanguinary as it is unrelenting, and cruel as it is unjust, has 
been commenced against a portion of our population, whose sin is 
that, which Providence entailed upon them in their birth, and whose 
crying iniquity is, that they cling in dying embrace to the faith of 
their fond and devoted hearts. Whilst reposing under institutions, 
which are the admiration, and that have called forth the reverence and 
homage of a united world for the equity which founded them, and the 
benevolent spirit that pervades their every part, — in a community 
amonof whom the religion of a meek Redeemer has its professed 
votaries in untold niunbers, — and in a city, once proverbial for 
its social order and public morals, the lives of our fellow beings 
have been taken by ruthless violence, our streets stained with hu- 
man gore, the Temples of the living God been desecrated and burnt, 
the homes of hundreds razed to the dust, and the quiet retreat^ of un- 
offending women, devoted to that heavenly charity which a Saviour 
enforced, been barbarously fired I Humanity still weeps, and will 
lono- weep, over the terrific events Avhich a frenzied madness has 
caused within our borders : and Religion clothed in the garments of 
mourning and grief, now sits among the desolations, which her people 
have made in her holy name I 

Calmly and in truth, to detail the causes which urged on this com- 
munity to the sacrifice of so many lives, the destruction of consecrated 



buildings, and the ruin of families and individuals, is the purpose of 
the writer. He gives his opinions with frankness, but yet without 
partiality or prejudice. He is a Protestant by birth, by attachment 
and principle ; and he too, is a Native Philadelphian of the third ge- 
neration, whose ancestors have done the State some service. From 
Roman Catholics he has nothing to hope nor expect ; for he is ac- 
quainted with but very few of that body of Christians. As a native 
of the city however, which has been disgraced by the recent terrible 
outrages, he will firmly express the convictions which his own obser- 
vations have supplied, and if offence be given, it will be that which 
truth must always expect when unveiling the doings of fanaticism or 
bigotry. But offence or not, it will still be truth ; and truth in its pure 
essence, in its full integrity. 

He asks then from a Christian public, a passing attention to the ob- 
servations which follow. If they merit it, he begs that they may be 
seriously weighed and considered. It is in the cause of truth, of Re- 
ligion, of good morals, of social harmony and public happiness, that 
he writes. He would, by directing your notice to facts, point out how 
to avoid for the future a recurrence of scenes of horror which have 
chilled the heart's-blood of the spectator, made Religion mourn in 
deepest sadness, and the patriot doubt the perpetuity of our boasted 
institutions. 



ORIGIN OF THE RIOTS. 

THE WILD SPIRIT OF FANATICAL PROSCRIPTION ;— ITS 
VIOLENCE AND ABUSES. PROTESTANT AGAINST CA- 
THOLIC,— BURNING OF CONVENT IN CHARLESTOWN, 

MASS. BISHOP HUGHES AND THE BIBLE IN COMMON 

SCHOOLS. PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION IN PHILADEL- 
PHIA. 

If " religious controversies never die," neither are the animosities 
and hatreds which they call up, nor the contentions and strifes they 
excite, entirely forgotten or eradicated. Time, which, in other mat- 
ters, even in those of the strongest feelings and affections of the heart, 
will often weaken their force, and heal the sorest wounds that may 
have been inflicted, has however, no power over the remembrance of 
sectarian feuds. It would seem that these are never to be covered 
with oblivion's pall ; for thi'oughout the longest age, they will be re- 
curred to with freshened passion, and be fought over with renewed 
vigour. 

It is painful to note this remaining corruption in natures, supposed 
to be subdued by the mild spirit of the everlasting Gospel : yet eccle- 
siastical history every where confirms the melancholy truth I That 
history is emphatically the record of strife and contention : the narra- 
tive of successive, violent struggles among those, who profess to wor- 
ship the same Almighty Creator, — to seek salvation at the hands of a 
Common Redeemer, — and to be influenced by the quickening motions 
of the same Divine Spirit. Philosophy may j)ronounce, that as the 
subject of religion is one, that seizes, or which ought to seize, upon 
the whole soul of man, it must necessarily awaken the strongest sensi- 
bilities and passions in the breast; Christianity however will decide, 
that her first principles have never been understood nor received into 
the breasts of such militants, nor her holy spirit been permitted to ex- 
ercise its converting energy. 

Passing over the intervening period between the advent of the Sa- 
viour and the XVI. century, the era of the Reformation, and the few 
centuries which have since elapsed, contain much bitter food for reflec- 
tion, both for the philarithro})liist and Christian. The thirty years war, 
which that event occasioned, was far from being closed by the victo- 
ry of Gustavus; for again and again has it burst out afresh; and al- 
though not extending to the same limits, nor at all times marked by the 
same results, yet there has always been seen the same indomitable pur- 
pose of contention and strife ; the unconquered resolution to war with 
carnal weapons in a matter wholly spiritual. 

1* 



That in the other hemisphere such should have been the case, is not 
so much a matter of astonishment, as it has ever been one of grief with 
the disciple of the Prince of Peace. Religion there has ever been too 
much an affair of state policy ; and the altar and the throne have alike 
been subject to the vicissitudes of civil government. But on this con- 
tinent, and especially in these United States, it was an authorised hope 
that sectarian strife and violence would forever be unknown. Blessed 
with a Constitution, which grants, unto the greatest verge, religious 
liberty to all, and demands no subscription to creeds, nor compliance 
with any form of worship, it was right to expect that social harmon}'^ 
and fellowship would abound from one end of our land to the other. 
The occasion having been removed by our institutions, the distressing 
results of fanaticism and bigotry, it was supposed never M'ould have 
to be apprehended ; but on the contrary that peace would reign in our 
borders ;. that each would sit under his own vine and fig tree, and 
that none would make him afraid. 

The horrors of the first week in May have however destroyed the 
hope of the Christian and the friend of order. A contest, marked by 
all the atrocities of civil Avar, has raged among us, and which com- 
mencing in sectarian hatred, has been arrested only before the smok- 
ing ruins of sanctuaries dedicated to the service of the Living God I 
The lives of fellow men have been taken in barbarous cruelty, and 
families driven from their hearths and firesides, are now wandering in a 
Christian land in search of that protection, which has not been afford- 
ed them by our boasted laws. 

Is it inquired, what was the origin of these atrocities ? The asser- 
tion is boldly made, that it is to be placed wholly to the account of 
that wild course of fanaticism and bigotry which has been pursued by 
certain Protestants in our count ry against the Roman Catholic Church. 
The writer is aware that the reason which he gives and Avhich he is 
well conscious contains a grave accusation, will startle many of that 
l)ody to which himself belongs, and with whom, God giving him grace, 
he will remain until death. But, sorrowful as it is to him to bear wit- 
ness against a portion of his brethren, he cannot and he will not, — for 
he dares not, — disguise the truth. He writes to expose the mistaken, 
furious, and in this instance, the death-dooming zeal of professing 
Christians ; but yet he writes that their grievous error may be avoided 
for the future ; that in the time to come, p(>rsecution for opinion's 
sake may by them be viewed as a sin of no common dj^e, committed 
against that awful Being, who has declared that vengeance is His, and 
that He alone will repay. 

In confirmation of the assertion that to the proscriptive measures set 
in action by certain Protestants against the Roman Catholic population 
in this country, the source of these outrages is to be traced, it will !)<' 
necessary to recur to transactions which have occurred within the last 
fifteen years. The first in order which shall be mentioned is the 
burning in 1834 of the IJrsuline Convent in ('harlcstown, Massachu- 
setts ; an act which was the outbreak of a ])opulation, that had be(>n 
excited to violence by the impassioned harangues of known Protestant 
clergymen, and the ])ublication of inflamn:iatory works. The time 



that has elapsed since this disgraceful occurrence is more than ample 
for the finding of a verdict in reference to it ; and this is the season, 
when the question can he asked, what was the crime of the inmateii 
of this house of religious retirement ; — what offence had they com- 
mitted among themselves, or against the laws, or society ? Why was 
it that helpless women were made to fly from the retreat to which 
they had devoted their remaining existence, amid the flames, which 
an infuriated mob had kindled and through the yelling ranks of which 
they had to escape, with scarcely enough of needed raiment ? Let 
the accusation be brought, if one exists ; for as yet, none has been 
heard, even from the most rabid fanatic. Let the mob themselves 
speak, or they who urged them on to the work tell, in what was the 
offence of the harmless tenants of a house, that savages themselves 
would have reverenced. Or shall the public voice be heard, and con- 
fession be forced from the lip, that their sin, — the sin that called for 
vengeance at the hands of fellow-Christians, zealous, — God-fearing and 
God-loving Christians, — was that they too were Christians, but of ano- 
ther name ? — Is this Protestantism, American Protestantism? Heaven 
save the land then I — It is not Christianity, however ; and the Holy 
Gospel of the Saviour will show that it is not Christianity. 

But it was a part and parcel of the system of operations, set on foot 
by misguided and over-heated zealots. They had in this land become 
tired of loving their brethren, and they went sturdily to work to hate 
them ; and to show how well they could do so, no mi^ans were left un- 
tried to procure capital for their undertaking. In addition to series of 
discourses upon discourses of the most exciting character against Ro- 
man Catholics, heard from pulpits throughout the length and breadth 
of the land ; — besides the daily lessons of pious nurses to their charges, 
never to mention the lady of 13abylon but with horror, — in addition to 
the weekly routine of lessons for certain Sunday Schools, which incul- 
cated uncompromising war against the "Pope and his degraded and 
slavish subjects," — a resort was had to publications, too vile and too 
obscene to give even their titles here ; which the most depraved and 
dissolute parent would not dare to bring into his family, and which 
the abandoned and outcast, such as may be found in tlie jjurlieus of a 
second Sodom, would regard as a contamination. I?ut it was one of 
the tactics of this systematic warfare ; and the self-excited bellige- 
rents know it to have been so. They know, that to their discomfiture, 
after the wicked falsehoods of one of these productions had been ex- 
posed by a respectable Protestant committee, and that the book would 
no longer be saleable, that the parties, and among them, a clergyman, 
now resident in the city of New York, differed about the division of 
spoils, which an abused public had supj)Hed, as well as about the honour 
of its paternity. 

The Convent at Charlestown was burnt ; and the amia!)I(> and pur(^ 
minded and modest and truth-telling Maria Monk, was brought uj)on 
the arena, to prove as far as she could, that it was the very essence of 
modern Protestantism to "do (iod service" "by calling liglitning down 
from heaven" upon Roman Catholics and their property, even though 
it should have been religiously devoted. Besides, it was " a Protestant 



8 

country," according to these fanatical champions of a more pure faith, 
and of a more evangelical system of religion ! As if in the Constitu- 
tion of the land, or in all the statutes which are in force, one jot or one 
tittle authorizes such a declaration. On the contrary, do not all the 
legal enactments of our country in the most substantive, absolute man- 
ner, declare, not a toleration, but entire, perfect liberty of conscience 
in religious matters, inviting free and full discussion in respect to them, 
and promising protection and defence against the slightest violence 
and persecution for opinion's sake ? A Protestant country? Where 
is it written : — upon ^\'hat page of our statutes, — in what decision of 
our courts, — in what journal of our legislature, — is it declared that this 
is a Protestant country ? Is it to be found in the charter of Charles 
II. granted to William Pcnn ? Is it seen in one of the three Constitu- 
tions that have been adopted by tliis Commonwealth? Is it discovered 
in our Bill of Rights, — or in that attached to the Constitution of the 
United States '? Is it told in the charter given to Lord Baltimore, or 
is it derived from any ordinance, \\'hich that Catholic nobleman issued 
as Proprietary of Maryland ? Is it even to be discovered in the Con- 
stitution of Massachusetts ; in which State the first dreadful persecvi- 
tion began for religion's sake, by Protestant against Protestant : where 
Quakers and Baptists were hung by the Pilgrim Fathers, as they are 
wont to be termed by their admiring descendants, and hung too, be- 
cause they we)-e Protestants ? 

Or is it meant that it is a Protebtant land, because there is a majority 
of this faith to be found in it? And will Protestants risk an argument 
for the purity of their doctrines by referring to this majority .' As one 
Protestant, the writer protests against such an appeal : and did he stand 
alone, he would ever protest. Is principle to be tested by numbers ? 
Is the verity of our faith, its accordance with the divine word, its ex- 
cellence or its reasonableness to be tried by majorities ? One indivi- 
dual may be right, when thousands around him are wrong I The twelve 
apostles of our Saviour had a knowledge of divine truth, while a whole 
world was engulphed in Egyptian darkness ! The Protestant commun- 
ion throughout Christendom is a handful compared to that of the Ca- 
tholic ; yet is the Protestant willing to submit to the conclusion to 
which his own reasoning would bring him. Christianity cannot com- 
pete, as respects numbers, with Heathenism ; and Avill the Christian 
surrender his holy religion to the Gentile, l)ecause the latter is the 
stronger? 

Or is it implied that because it is a Protestant country, that all must 
become so, or tamely sul)mit to the dicta of Protestant sectarianism, be 
they ever so ])roscrijjtive and oppressive? And, have the minority no 
rights; especially in matters of conscience, and spiritual concern? Is 
that minority to be ridden over rough-shod, or ground to powder, for 
no other reason but because they are a minority ? May there be no 
Christians, good and sincere and true Christians among them? And 
with our noble Constitution, with our just and equitable laws in their 
hands, or with freedom of conscience on their tongues, is the majority, 
merely because it is a majority, to proscribe and persecute and defame 
the smaller number? Shami; for such Protestantism, — shame for such 
Christianity, — shame for such Americanism I We talk about the In- 



quisltion and its cruelties ; and yet to what shall such a policy and 
such principles be compared? Servetus was a solitary individual in 
Geneva ; and a Protestant majority in that Protestant city, led on by 
the Protestant Calvin, burnt him. The poor Protestant Quakers and 
Baptists were a minority in Boston, and they were hunf^ by Protestants, 
who came to this land on account of religious persecution, as they said. 
But they who did such damning deeds were a majority ; and it M'as a 
" Protestant country," and being that majority and being Protestants, 
par excellence, they had the right to take the lives of the few, who 
would not bend their consciences to the beck of numbers ! 

It is treason, rank foul treason, to our Religion ; it is treason to the 
very spirit of our institutions, — the American is a traitor to his coun- 
try, who talks about this being a Protestant land, in order to justify his 
religious intolerance and proscription of others. Let him hug the opi- 
nion as closely as he \v\\\, that political majorities are always right, — 
let him, if he will, contend that in popular governments, the voice of 
the people is the voice of God, — and few will be willing to attempt 
to reason him out of his notions. But that holy thing which is from 
God, — that divine religion of Jesus we profess, cannot and must not 
be measured by human judgment, nor worldly maxims, much less by 
numbers. It was true, though Paul stood alone on the hill of Mars 
before a multitude of scoffers. It was true, eternally true, although 
the Redeemer of man, was led to the cross by legions of Jews and 
Gentiles. It will be true, throughout endless ages, and it will remain 
in all its hallowed integrity, although the "gates of hell," combined 
with a whole world, should press their united force against a mere 
remnant of Christian believers. 

This claim has been dwelt upon, because it was the standing argu- 
ment — the constant justification for the attacks upon Catholics. It 
was the main one that was brought forward against Bisiior Hrc;nr,s' 
course in the well-known Bible question in New York. And here, the 
writer would remark, that he writes with a far different purpose, than 
to defend the Rt. Rev. gentleman: on the contrary, he has^ always 
thought, that under the circumstances and at the time, his measure was 
highly impolitic, and that the line of proceeding was equally impro- 
per. ' Besides, Bishop Hughes and himself hold views, which are 
greatly variant and opposite, on points involving grave and solemn in- 
terests". The writer is a Protestant, decided and firm in liis principles, 
devoted and warm in his attachment to them. He believes that Bi- 
shop Hughes is equally so in all those respects which distinguish him 
as a Catholic. In uttering his views therefore, the former cannot be 
prt-judiced in favor of the Rt. Rev. gentleman, nor his faith. But he 
hopes that he can do justice to him, and justice to principle, be it 
found where and with whom it may. About what then is an opinion 
to be rendered 1 About the very cause of all their dilficuUios, — the 
movement of Bishop Hughes, — his attempt to thrust the Bible out of 
the Public Schools in New York, is the reply of the zealous Protes- 
tant ! 

But was this movement the first origin of this sectarian warfare ? 
Have we not seen, that for years before, it was carried on, at least by 



10 

one party ? Know we not that ten years since, the Convent at Charles- 
town was burnt, — that infamous and vile publications against Catholics 
were issued, thick as autumnal leaves, — that throughout every city, 
and village, and hamlet, the burden of most sermons has been the Pope 
and Antichrist and Babylon, — the warning has been, to beware of the 
"foreign power of the Man of Sin .'" Who need be reminded that a 
combined assault, on the part of a large number of Protestant clergy- 
men, has been warmly made upon the Catholic Church, and the most 
inflammatory language in many instances unbecoming the sacred desk, 
has been employed against her members for a long time in this city. 
The very news-boys have sold their sheets, by announcing the con- 
tents to be articles against this communion ; and for an extended pe- 
riod, the very secular papers, in many cases, have lent themselves to 
this crusade. 

When then Bishop Hughes began the agitation of the subject of the 
use of the Bible in the Public Schools, it was at a season, when the 
popular mind had been already exercised by long and previous attacks 
upon his communion. The time was indeed unpropitous ; but the 
question at issue, had no concei'n as to time. The right, which he 
claimed, in his view no doubt, was to be granted upon other considera- 
tions than expediency, or even the propriety of the course that might 
be pursued. It was a case of conscience with him ; and as such, it be- 
came his duty to act in the premises. And what was his action, — M'hat 
did he require, — what claim did he put in behalf of his Church ? Let 
us calmly and honestly, as Christian people, examine the matter before 
we presume to judge. 

To avoid prolixity, the whole case is resolved into the following 
brief statement. Bishop Hughes addressed the School Commissioners 
of New York, and requested as the guardian of the faith of Catholic 
children, that the Bible, that is, the version of King James, or as it is 
commonly called the Protestant Bible, might not be used for a reading 
book in the Public Schools ; and that if it would not be dispensed with, 
that then, as the Catholic population were taxed to support the sys- 
tem, he might be allowed to have them separately instructed, and be 
allowed the same sum for the education of Catliolic children as was 
paid by the public for the instruction of the others. This is a fair, 
honest statement of the request. Bishop Hughes did not ask tliat the 
Catholic Bible (the Douay) should be introduced instead of King 
James'. He never intimated such a thing. He asked that his children 
might not be compelled to listen to the reading of a Aersion of the 
Bible which he considered incorrect ; he did not require that the Vul- 
gate should l)e \ised, but he ])rt"sented the request that he might remove 
the Catholic scholars from the Public Scliools, promising to have them 
fully educated in all the secular branches, and that he should have an 
appropriation, per aipitn, e/ pro irita, with the public expense of teach- 
ing. 

This communication of the Rt. Rev. gentleman, fanned into a more 
furious flame the war A\hich had already been Avaged againtt the Ro- 
man Catholics. The School Commissioners declined gnnting the 
prayer of the Bishop, and it was finally referred to the deci^tion of the 



11 

ballot boxes, or a popular election. " Protestantism and No Popery" 
became arrayed against "Catholicism and Eishop Huj^hes," nnd the 
struggle was warm and animated. Its final issue was the granting of 
the petition of Bishop Hughes ; and the Catholic children are now 
educated separately. 

The above is a rapid, 3'et faithful account of this vexed matter. No 
comment will be made upon it. Every one who reads it, is capable of 
judging the merits of the case ; and no dilliculty will be experienced in 
seeking a decision, if all will imagine themselves in the place of Bishop 
Hughes, or if every Protestant will honestly ask himself, if he were 
a tax payer in a Catholic country, if he had to contribute towards a 
Public School, whether he could submit to have his children taught out 
of the Douay Bible ? This question will resolve the difficulty ; for 
after all, it is the hinge upon which the whole matter turns. The wri- 
ter asks his Protestant brethren to divest themselves of prejudices, to 
disabuse their minds of previous impressions, to judge a righteous judg- 
ment, and he is sure that their moral sense of what is equitable, will 
enable them promptly to decide. 

In the writer, the Bishop has no advocate nor defender, except iu 
that which man is called by the voice of the Eternal to render to all 
his fellow men. Whilst then upon this subject, he will notice two 
charges against the Rt. Rev. gentleman, which have been again and 
again reiterated by his opponents. One of them is, that in his action 
he has treated harshly the version of King James. No one regards 
with more admiration and reverence this same version than he who 
now addresses you. He believes it to be a faithful interpretation of 
the orignal ; and he is convinced that even in view of the great amount 
of erudition and learning which now could be gathered for the pur- 
pose, no body of men, brought from all parts of the world, would be 
able to present a version more faithful, more perfect, and less faulty. 
Bishop Hughes however may think differently, and prefers another. 
But is Bishop Hughes or his Church alone in this preference '? Have 
not Protestants themselves pronounced their Bible defective in parts, 
and needing revision ? A Mr. Wellbeloved, in England, some years 
since, gave the world the advantage of his superior wisdom in a new 
version. The Unitarians have an improved version of the New Testa- 
ment. Noah Webster in this country, has issued, per se, with no im~ 
primatur but his own ridiculous vanity, a new translation. Our Bap- 
tist brethren have in a body seceded from the American Bible Society, 
and formed among themselves exclusively a National Association, which 
as it is said, will publish the Scriptures in such a form as to give the le- 
gitimate, critical meaning of ceiiaiii contested words or phrases. And 
who knows not, that the notorious leader of the Mormons has even 
given a supplement to the Word of God, as set forth by the translators 
of the Protestant Bible ? If these things be so, and with grief are they 
mentioned, how can Protestants complain that their Book is not rever- 
enced by Catholics ? 

Another charge brought against Bishop Hughes is, that forgetting 
the sacredness of his station, and its high elevated rank, he has descend- 
ed into the arena of political strife, and brought his followers to the 



12 

polls to obey his beck. If the Bishop has clone so more than once, let 
hiin be condemned, and let the voice of public scorn be loudly raised 
against him. But what American, what Protestant will presume to 
censure him, when on the one occasion which will be referred to, he 
thus acted ? The Bible question was to be decided at the polls. There 
and there only was the contest to be engaged in, in order to secure an 
issue. Bishop Hughes did not select the hustings nor the polls, nor the 
mode of warfare. The laws did this for him, and imposed upon him 
the necessity of this course, and manner, and place, for the political 
battle. And now^, is there a Christian breathing, is there one Protes- 
tant in this land, who will censure the Bishop for doing what he was 
compelled to do ; for struggling as it was his duty, his sacred duty to 
struggle for obtaining, in the only way open for him, and as far as in 
him lay, the rights which he claimed ? His was a matter of conscience, 
of religious principle ; and who is there, who for conscience and reli- 
p-ious principle would not do this much, aye more, if need be, even 
unto the death 1 He asked for a certain privilege, and he was told you 
must go to the polls, for only there can the decision be had. He did 
go there, for in no other way could he reach his object. And is he to 
be condemned for this? Protestants were there also, and did they do 
right, and he alone do wrong ! 

But if it were a fault in Bishop Hughes to attend the polls of a po- 
pular election, equally so was it in the late revered and faithful man 
of God, the Rt. Rev. Bishop White ; who on occasions was present 
even at ward elections, and gave his vote. And M'ho ever dared to 
raise his voice against this pure, apostolic servant of his Lord ! — this 
meek and amiable and holy minister of a Holy Gospel ? Were they, 
who are bruiting the interference of Bishop Hughes in a popular elec- 
tion to come to Philadelphia, they would see and hear certain Protes- 
tant clergymen at meetings of the Native Americans, and mark them 
as amongst the most active, the loudest in their inflammatory denuncia- 
tions, the longest on the stands in their violent addresses to the passions 
of their hearers — the most bitter against those, whom the same Creator 
formed with themselves, out of the same earth and dust. It is all right 
and proper for these clerical gentlemen : it is a crying sin in all others 
who differ from them. 

At a season, when the feelings of the religious public, were excited 
to the highest pitch ; when the Roman Catholics were " every where 
spoken against ;" when prejudices had settled in the minds of the peo- 
ple, and were as firm as our Alleghaiii(>s, a new measure of hostility 
was set on foot. This was the furmatiou of the Protestant Association 
in the City of Philadelphia ; the seat of its central action. Good men, 
and Christian men were astonished at the boldness of this combination 
of certain sects against a single individual body of Cln-istians, — of this 
union of the many against one. Even those who were not known to 
be under the influence of religious impressions enquired cut bono, — 
what good can be reached by such a bold and belligei-ent course, that 
will in any way compensate for the bitterness and animosity which 
will assuredly result ? Believers in the Gospel, those Avith whom the 
faith of the Prince of Peace was precious and dear, mourned over 



13 

the delusions, Avhicli, in fanatical and bigoted blindness had seized upon 
their brethren, and in the gloom of which, they had set at nought the 
golden principles of their religion, and struck at its very spirit, as well 
as that of our free and equitable institutions. The formation of such 
a society was regarded by all, M'ho dared to think upon matters with 
reference to their results, as the war-cry for Protestants to take the 
field against Catholics ; for the summons to renew the battle, in which 
Christian was to be seen contending with Christian, and the very altars 
of God were to be desecrated by their priests ; who instead of bring- 
ing upon them the offerings of broken hearts and contrite spirits, cast 
there the sharpened sword without its scabbard, the weapons for bloody 
strife, that were dedicated to the work of religious or rather sectarian 
persecution. 

And well did the zealous though mistaken leaders of this Association 
come up to its design. Congregations instead of being taught from the 
pulpit to adorn their profession by all the lovely graces of the Gospel, 
by kind and affectionate bearing in the world, by earnest and ever active 
endeavors to secure for themselves and others, the blessings of peace, 
were anno3'ed with inflammatory harangues upon the " great schism," 
and upon the " abominations of the Roman Church." The Pope, and the 
Pope, and the Pope, was the beginning and the end of sermons in cer- 
tain Churches ; and women and children were frightened with the de- 
tails of the wicked doings of him of Rome ; whilst they who were of 
the stature of men, were held breathless captives, when they were ad- 
dressed by these orators upon the subject of Papal usurpations, and the 
ecclesiastical domination contemplated by " anti-Christ" in America. 
They were told that there was not a Catholic Church that had not un- 
derneath it, prepared cells for Protestant heretics ; that every priest 
was a Jesuit in disguise, — that the Pope was coming to this country 
with an army of cassocked followers, and that each would be trebly 
armed with weapons, concealed under the folds of "Babylonish robes." 
Never did Titus Gates detail more horrid conspiracies, in virtue of his 
station as informer general, than did these clerical sentinels ; and all 
that was wanting was the power, and such a judge as Jeffries, to make 
every Roman Catholic expiate his " abominable heresy" upon the scaf- 
fold, or amid the flames. 

It was a melancholy stat(^ of affairs, which the prosecution of the 
object of this Association brought about in this city, once known and 
acknowledged to be the forcMuost in social harmony and order. It was 
such a state, as gave the most positive denial to every claim of an 
Evangelical influence. The peace of the community was disturbed ; 
families were made to break asunder the bonds of fellowship ; Protes- 
tants were warned against associations with Catholics for any purpose, 
and from almost every desk, on the day consecrated to holy rest, even 
from the agitation of human passions, intemperate declamation against 
the " evils of Romanism," was sure to be heard. Charity, the Evan- 
gelical virtue of divine faith — that Gospel charity which is to sur- 
vive the faith and hope of the believer, and which is to glow brighter 
and warmer and holi(n-, age after age, throughout all endless eternity — 
this charity was forgotten : and " no compromise with Rome," and no 
peace to her "degraded subjects," were the watchwords of these Pro- 
testant crusaders. All former dissensions among themselves were now 
luished. iNo croaking from this heretical sect, and no angry disputa- 
tion from that schismatic, were now heard. The angry passions of dif- 

2 



14. 

fering Christians were stilled for the season, to be concentrated upon 
one object, with increased energy and force. 

That the citizens of the United States, and that Christians of all de- 
nominations throughout the world may understand the principles under 
which this Association was formed, the writer will refer to the saluta- 
tory Address, issued immediately subsequent to its formation. In that 
document, which has all the merit of a reverence for antiquit}', since 
there is not one idea, but what has been reiterated again and again, 
there is a marginal note in the following language : — 

" The secular papers frequently appeal to iluir leaders to aid in supporting 
Roman Catholic Orphan Asylums. An orphan is an object of sympathy to 
every feeling heart : but we are really doing the?e helpless children a kindness 
by assisting to bring them up in the errors of Popery ] and are not these very 
children to be hereafter employed as jjriists and jjujjs in disseminating Ro- 
manism ?"* 

It is not asked that a strict interpretation be given to the M'eight 
of these words. Take them as they are and in their primary significa- 
tion, and what is their amount 1 Is it not that the sins of the parents 
are to be visited upon the children ; not by God himself who has re- 
served this exercise of fearful justice, but by the Avretched though pre- 
suming creatures of his hand '? Orphans made so by the ordination of 
High Heaven, — the poor pitiable objects of sympathy with all tliat 
bear the form of manhood, be they Christian or Heathen, — fatherless 
children, poor and weak, homeless and wandering, are forbidden to be 
relieved ; are to be denied the " cup of cold water," or the hard crust 
which may keep from starvation and death, at the suggestion of these 
" anointed of the Lord :" — these meek and peaceful and humane fol- 
lowers of the Lamb ! Orphans are to perish and rot on the highway, 
and no relief is to be extended : because the daughter of early sorrow, 
may become the inmate of a convent ; the son of early grief, may in 
the course of Providence, become a Catholic priest I As if the religion 
of the Roman Catholic, truly possessed of all its abominations, which 
its opponents bring against it, is not better than no religion ; is not bet- 
ter than profligacy and crime. As if it would be more humane that 
these orphans should become the inmates of penitentiaries, through the 
want of common charity, than the devoted residents of cloisters, or 
the ministering servants of Cbristian sanctuaries. 

It is not known by the writer, who is the author of this Address; 
and therefore no personal feelings can be supposed to be operative. 
The paper is taken, without any or the least reference to its individual 
source of production: and the question is therefore boldly put forth, 
not what Christian, but what human being, not totally lost to shame, 
will dare to acknowledge that he has penned it ? Who would confess 
in this age, that he has pn^sumed to direct the channel, or limit 
the bounds of human sensibilities and charitable feelings'? What 
Cbristian man is that, who has ever read that the exercise of those 
heaven-derived syni])athies of the h(^art, especially of the renewed 
convei'tcd heart, — shall place the benevolent subject of them at the 
right hand of the Eternal Jtidge, because he " took the stranger in," 
because he ministered, though even a Samaritan, to the Jvw in his af- 
fliction, — will come forth and say that he can justify this outrage 
against Religion, against humanity, ngainst decency 1 If the writer, 
whoever he may be, can do this, although with quivering lips and 

* rrom itifi)riTi;ition it nppears, that sinco ))ie r6tal)lis^liniriit of llie I'cmalo ()r|)haii 
AHjhim, a pcrifulol thirty. five jears, onli/ one of iho orphans Ims bucoiiu; a Sitiicr i>f 
Charity — not one has become a A'wn .' 



15 

blanched cheeks, then is he a meet companion for the reprobate spirits 
that fired the temples of the mighty and merciful Jehovah ! 

It is distressing to the heart to note this cruel admonition of Protes- 
tant leaders to their followers, in respect to the objects of a discrimi- 
nating charity, — this restricting of a virtue, which in its exercise, is to 
know no arbitrary, much less any sectarian regulations. But how ad- 
ditionally distressing is it to the Protestant observer, to refer to the 
conduct of Roman Catholics in the very same city, which bears the 
imprint of the address of the Protestant Association ! When the 
dreadful, and death-dealing pestilence, the Asiatic Cuolkra, appeared 
in Philadelphia in the year IS 32, the writtu- knows that in the midst of 
the alarm and terror, which the awful scourge occasioned among the 
people, that the active exertions of at least one Catholic priest, became 
the theme of praise and honor upon every lip. That servant of a Di- 
vine Master has now been called to his account ; and in his tomb he 
cannot heed this nuMnorial of his evangelical work of love and mercy. 
But it should be told noAv ; for his communion is now systematically 
assaulted, and pronounced to be anti-Christian. It must be told now, 
and indeed for ever ; — aye, so long indeed as genuine religion, as pure 
charity, as Gospel benevolence can claim a single admirer; or so long 
as there be one son or daughter of misery, that needs protection or a 
friend. 

With confusion of face, yet with impartial justice before men and 
angels, the writer will state that in the season of the above terrible 
scourge, the Rev. Mr. Hurley, Priest of St. Aus:ustinc''s, converted the 
Rectory, then in his occupancy into a Cholera Hospital, and placed it 
under the control of the proper authorities. The doors of his quiet 
home were thrown wide open; and unmindful of the inconvenience 
to vrhich such an act subjected him, he not only invited the guardians 
of the City's health to deposit the victims of the pestilence in his 
house, but himself, was employed without intermission in seeking out 
the wretched creatures upon Avhom the dreadful disease had fallen I 
Every room in his mansion was appropriated to this divine work ; — 
his own chamber was given to the dying, and that stud i/, where he had 
learned his Master's will, was made the practical commentary of the 
judgment, he had formed of it. Out of three luindred and sixty-seven 
patients which had been received in this private Asylum of a heavenly 
charity, fort y-cii^ht only were Romnn Catholics, — the remainder were 
professing Protestants. The appeal is now made, not to the judgments 
nor the preferences of sectaries and bigots, but it is addressed to Chris- 
tians, who are so because they have read their Bibles and are go- 
verned by them and not by the creeds of this or that denomination, 
— the appeal is made to such ; can you hesitate in awarding justice for 
such a noble, such a truly religious act, to its performer, be he called !)y 
whiitevt'r name he may .' When the question is rendered, then go to 
that Rectory, and mark that it is now in ruins, — that the very Hospital 
has been burnt by miscreants, who dared to profane the name of Pro- 
testantism, when they applied the torch to the home of Catholic 
priests. 

In that same year of pestilence and woe, the Sisters of Charity, un- 
sought and unbidden, left their retirement and healthy residence in 
Emmettsburg, Maryland, and came to this afillcted City. They came, 
on what was truly a mission of charity ; a genuine Gospel charity. 
They tendered their valuable services, which the public authorities 



16 

gladly accepted. With their lives in their hands, they were incessant 
in their labour of love and mercy. No danger affrighted them'; no toil 
ever caused them to pause in their devoted exertions. The communi- 
ty that they had immeasurably benefitted, were deeply sensible of their 
services ; and our civic officers, not only expressed their gratitude, but 
offered any recompense to themselves and their order. Their reply 
was worthy of Christians ; and none but sincere, faithful Christians 
could have rendered such a one. They laboured, they said, in the cause 
of religion ; in behalf of their suffering fellow creatures and in obedi- 
ence to their engagements. They had done no more than their duty, 
and even that imperfectly. Their reward was to be apportioned by 
the God whom they had endeavored to serve, by benefitting His crea- 
tures, and under no circumstances could they accept for themselves, 
or their church, or their order, any recompense. 

And how has this work of charity been repaid, in the very city that a 
few years since was loud in its praise and acknowledgments towards 
these ladies ? How has Philadelphia requited their deeds of mercy, 
their labours of love '? Such singleness of motive, such purity of ac- 
tion, and such an amount of good, which they were enabled to per- 
form, it should seem, would disarm the most maddened bigot ; would 
demand an exercise of charity, even to the utmost, towards errors of 
doctrine held by these faithful creatures of a merciful God. Even to 
deny to them the meed of praise would have been the ungrateful task 
of the most reprobate, infidel heart ; and he who might attempt to de- 
preciate their services, would deservedly be regarded, as lost to all gra- 
titude, to the sense of shame, and of all respect for any of the virtues 
of the heart. 

But more than this has been done ! The very retreat of these Sis- 
ters of Charity has been fired, and it now lies in ruins I Its black- 
ened walls tell the tale, at which the heathen himself would shud- 
der. There they are ; the monument of our infamy, the evidence 
of our ingratitude ; the damning proof of our injustice and cru- 
elty. There they stand, the mournful evidence of the influence 
over unregenerate hearts, which principles, such as those set forth by 
the Protestant Association, can exercise. Orphans, that the roaming 
savage would compassionate, are not to be relieved, though they cry 
for help, because you may be instrumental in gathering them from the 
highways and hedges to become servants of a benevolent and kind and 
holy Redeemer ; and the dwellings of helpless women, consecrated to 
the work of mercy ; who are by sacred \ ows, the companions to the 
sick, and the visiters to the pallet of suffering, are to be burnt, because 
they pronounce not the Sliibbolrth of a sect I 

Of this association, this Protestant Association, of this proscriptive 
measure, — of the spirit of religious persecution which animates them, 
the writer with ditficulty refrains from mentioning importants facts 
and evidence. He leaves it for the prescmt ; but in due time the Chris- 
tian public shall be made acquainted with the nleans and course pur- 
sued by its leaders, in order that they may understand its object. 
What that object is, "he who runs" can easily comprehend. If it can 
be sanctioned, by the calm and considerate portion of the Christian 
public, then indeed has the design of the ever blessed Gospel of Christ 
been overlooked. If one body of Christians can band together, to give 
united o])position to a single communion of fellow Christians, and pro- 
claim their pm-pose, to ^var with them until they desert, what these 



17 

presumino; judgos would pronounco, grievous errors: — if this can be 
done M'ilhout exciting censure from all who " are of Christ," then 
may we well lament the weak(>nlng of tlie bonds of sacred fellowship, 
and bitterly mourn over the want of that love towards our brethren, 
which is the very bond of perfection. ^Vell may the unbeliever then 
scoff, and the gain-sayer ridicule both our ])rofession and practice ; and 
well too may the enemies of the faith of Jesus point t(j the professing 
disciples of the meek and lowly Saviour, and ask, is this the Christian- 
ity of which you vaunt ? 



EARLY ACTION OF THE CONTROLLERS OF THE PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS IN PHILADELPHIA, IN RECxARD TO SECTARI- 
ANISM. THE ACTION OF BISHOP KENRICK ; RE- 
SPONSE OF CONTROLLERS. AGITATION OF THE BI- 
BLE QUESTION. NATIVE AMERICAN PARTY; ITS 

SECTARIAN CHARACTER; POLITICAL OBJECT ONLY 
SECONDARY. CHARACTER OF POPULATION IN KEN- 
SINGTON : OUTBREAK THEREIN. 

The feelings and dispositions of the people of Philadelphia have, 
until within a few years, been decidedly adverse to religious ao"itation 
and much more, to sectarian strife. The calm and meek bearin<T of 
the large Society of Friends in our city, ex{U-cised a strong and happy 
influence upon all classes and denominations, and the moral effect was 
an infusion of charitable forbearance, especially remarkable in a com- 
munity, divided as much as any other into various sects and distinct 
societies. 

Unfortunately, however, the respect for social order and reverence for 
the laws as well as conventional proprieties from man to man, have 
rapidly become weakened, and for a season, a reckless spirit of resis- 
tance to former regularity has been evidenced. As a native of this 
district, the writer has had opportunities for deciding as to the causes 
of this misrule, which unfortunately too extensively pn^vails amono- 
his fellow-citizens. Were he appealed to for a reason why the City 
of his birth has thus degenerated from the elevated rank which she once 
proudly held, he would atiswer without pr(>judic(>, but in calm and \'et 
fearless truth, that to the immigration of adventurers frt):n other States 
and particularly from the Eastern, must be placed in no small measure, 
the present distracted state of the community. He knows that he is 
calling down upon his head the noisy and declamatory condenmation 
of itimrnnt patriots, and Iradin^; theorists. But he heeds very little 
their noise and censure. He, however, will point to facts ; "and let 
them be considered and W(>ighed, in order that he may be sustained in 
his deliberate views. And what are these facts? It is answered, that 
an overwhelming majorit}^ of the Editors' of our public papers are fo- 
reigners, — that is, foreigners to Pennsylvania ; men who have come 
here without any sympathies for our State, with pre-formed notions of 
the superior excellence of the institutions of the places of their births, 



18 

and with no object, but to trade their political and religious principles, 
as a pedlar would trade his wares. They M'ould force upon our peo- 
ple their own, peculiar institutions; institutions which they regard as 
superior to those of the whole world, and which contain the trebly dis- 
tilled essence of all wisdom and pure religion. Let the dogmatical 
course of this delectable tribe of speculating editors be examined, and 
it will be seen, that according to their judgment no good can come 
from that very Nazareth, in which they have planted themselves, in 
order to secure to themselves what to them is the chief good. 

In confirmation of this assertion, the writer will refer to the agita- 
tion of the Abolition question ; and which resulted in the riotous burn- 
ing of the Pennsylvania Hall. It is one case, brought forth out of 
many that might be named, in which this foreign influence \vas ope- 
rative. For what Philapelpuian was it that Avas prominent in the 
organizing of this fanatical body of Anti-Slavery men ? Look over the 
list of their managers, and how many are native born citizens of our 
once quiet, peaceable city ? And yet this city is to be disgraced by 
the inflammatory and insulting proceedings of those from afar I Look 
at the agitators, the leaders, and orators of the "Native American par- 
ty ;" and how many of them, in proportion to the great bulk of their 
members, are native Philadelphians ? Is our degraded metropolis to be 
forever infested with such men and such proceedings ? Is it to be for- 
ever selected by the wild bigots, blindly wedded to every abstract no- 
tion, as the arena upon which to fight their battles, or to storm and fire, 
with their senseless, but exciting harangues? Is Philadelphia to be 
the war-field for every faction and j^arty, be their principles and ob- 
jects what they may ; and when outrage and violence result, are her 
peaceable and quiet-loving inhabitants to be branded as fellow mob- 
bites \ 

It would seem that such is the opinion of those who are not Penn- 
sylvanians. Who knoM^s not that only a few months since a Protes- 
■ tant Bishop of one of the Eastern Dioceses, presumed to take the con- 
sciences of our good citizens into his holy keeping, by announcing his 
purpose to deliver a course of discourses against the doctrin(>s of the 
Church of Rome 1 Regardless of the courtesies of life, of the decen- 
cies of secular regulations, he came from the East into the jurisdiction 
of a brother Bishop, vuiinvited and uncalled for, to open his port folio 
of valuable information as to the danger which was impending over 
Christendom. And who, that is a native Philadelphian, knoAvs not 
that the majority of the editors of our secular press, — the majority of 
the ianatical leaders of every new measur(^, — the slri>ngth aiid force of 
certain parties and factions, political and religious, are these same fo- 
reigners, these aliens to Pennsylvania-sympathies and feelings? 

Is the enquiry made, will you dare to limit "JNativ(^ rights" to 
States, and pronounce those foreigners \\\\o have been born in the 
United States / It is em])liatically re])lie(l in th(> allirmative. The 
riots in the cit}' are now being considered ; and it has been asserted, 
they Avere occasioned by religious intolerance and persecution. The 
proscriptive course was impelled by sectarian feelings ; and if they, 
who Avere under their influence, forgot that the " Romish ])aplst" Avas 
a creature of the same God that formed him, — Avhy shall the dishonor- 
ed Philadelphian forget that they Avho drove this papist to desperation, 



19 

were not Philadelphlans ? The Native Ameuican party contracted 
the circle of their regards ; they first shut out from their fold, those 
that the Gospel of Christ, and the Constitution of the country embraced 
in common with themselves ; and will they presume to find fault with 
a Jiative Philndelphian, when he calls upon his fellow natives, to draw 
the cords still closer, and be a little more exclusive ? Princi{)les of 
their justice can never be injured by their being extended to the ut- 
most ; let the world decide whether this has been carried too far 1 

In evidence of the equity of the prevailing views of Philadelphians 
in respect to the rights of conscience, the following document is given. 
From its date, it will be seen that the regulations Avere adopted at a 
time of perfect calm and quiet. No occasion had produced it, but 
what is stated therein ; and it is well known, that when published it 
was universally praised for the correctness of its principles. Let it be 
well weighed and considered ; for it will be necessary to refer to it 
hereafter. 

" Chamber of the Controllers of Public Schools, ) 
First School District of Pennsylvania. j 
''Resolutions passed December 9th, 1834-. 

" Whereas, The Controllers have noticed, that the practice exists in 
some of the Schools of introducing religious exercises, and books of a 
religious character, whicli have not been recommended or adopted by 
this Board in the lessons prepared for the use of the scholars, and 
believing the use of such exercises or books may have a tendency to 
produce an influence in the Schools of a sectarian character, 

It is Resolved, That this Board, as conservators of the rights of Pa- 
rents or Guardians of children, committed to the care of Teachers, 
employed according to law, for the purpose of public education, are 
bound to preserve those rights unimpaired. 

Resolved, That the Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania, 
which has provided for the establishment of Public Schools, has also 
wisely guaranteed the right of all to worsliip according to the dictates 
of their conscience ; and as the parents of children have both by law 
and nature the guardianship of them during their minority, so, they 
alone are responsible for the effects of such guardianship; and their 
right to impress the minds of their children with such views of a reli- 
gious nature as they may think most important, ought not to be inter- 
fered with, especially by a body exercising its autliority by virtue of 
the laws of the Commonwealth. 

Resolved, That as all sects contribute in the payment of taxes to 
the support of Public Schools, the introduction of any religious or sec- 
tarian forms as part of the discipline of the Schools, must have a ten- 
dency to impair the rights of some — and that whilst this Board is con- 
vinced of the utti-r impossibility of adopting a system of religious in- 
struction that should mtM^ the approliation of all religious societies, 
they are equally satisfied no injury need result to the pupils from con- 
fining the instruction in our Schools to the ordinary branches of ele- 
mentary education; inasmuch as ample facilities for religious improve- 
ment are presented for the choice of parents or guardians, in Sabbath 
Schools, and other establishments for that purpose, which are organized 
and supported by various religious communities. 



20 

Resolved, That the ground of universal benevolence is one on which 
all sects or parties may meet ; and it must be on this ground alone, 
that our Public Schools can be continued as a public good ; and in pro- 
hibiting the introduction of religious forms in them, this Board will 
invade the rights of none, but on the contrary, by so doing, it will 
maintain the rights of all, and therefore 

Resolved, That this Board cannot but consider the introduction or 
use of any religious exercises, books, or lessons into the Public Schools, 
which have not been adopted by the Board, as contrary to law ; and 
the use of any such religious exercises, books or lessons, is hereby di- 
rected to be discontinued." 

It is impossible to read these Resolutions without a feeling of strong 
approbation in the breast of every true American and Protestant. Yet just 
and righteous as they are in their very spirit, such was the influence of 
blind zeal and bigotry, that they were set at nought by certain teach- 
ers in the Public Schools. Bishop Kenrick accordingly addressed the 
following communication to the Board of Controllers : and the whole 
tenor of his letter -will show that all which he required, was what 
every Christian, under like circumstances, would feel himself called 
upon to demand. 

"TOTHK BOARDOFCONTROLLERSOFTllRPUnLK^ SCHOOLS 
IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA. 

"Gentlkmkn, — Sympathy for a respectulde lady who hasheen deprived for 
many monlhs past of her only means of support, for following the dictates of 
her cons(;ienc'e, and a solemn sense of duty to the Catholic community, whose 
religious interests are intrusted to my guardiansliip, prompt me to submit re- 
spectfully to your considera'ion the conscientious objections of Catholics to 
the actual rejjulalions of tiie Public Schools. 

Among them I am informed one is, that the teachers shall read, and cause 
to be read, the Bible; by which is understood the version published by com- 
mand of KinjT James. 'I'o this regulation we are forced to object, inasmuch 
as Catholic children are thus led to view as authoritative a version which is 
rejected by tiie church. It is not expected that I should state in detail the 
reasons of this rejection. 1 shall only ^ay, that we are persuadf'd that several 
books of Divine Scripture are wanted in that version, and that meaning of the 
original text is not faithfully expressed. It is not incumbent on us to prove 
either position, since we do not ask you to adopt the Catholic version for ge- 
neral use ; but we feel warrantc^d in claiming that our conscientious scruples 
to recognise or use the other, he resperiled. In Haltunore, the Directors of 
the Public Schools have thought it their duty to provide Catholic children 
with the (/atholic version. Is it too much for us to expect the same measure 
of justice ? 

The consciences of Catholics are also embarrassed by the mode of opening 
and closing the School exercises, which I undrrstand is by the singing of 
some hymn, or by prayer. It is not consistent with the laws and discipline of 
the Catludic Church for their members to unite in religious exercises with 
those who are not of her communion. We oiler up prayers and su|)|)lication3 
to God for all men; w^e embrace all in the sincerity of Christian alTection ; 
but we confine the marks of religious brotherhood to those who are of the 
household of the faith. Under the influence of this conscientious scruple, we 
ask that t'aiholic children be not re(|uired to join in the singing of hymns er 
other religious exercises. 

I liave been assured that several of the books used in the Public Schools, 
and still more those contained in the libraries attached to them, conta n mis- 
representations of our tenets, and statements to our |)rejudice, equally ground- 
less and injurious. It is but just to expect that the books used in the 
schools shall contain no oHensive matter, and that books decidedly hostile to 



21 

our faith shall not, under any pretext, be placed in the hands of Catholic 
children. 

The school law, which provides that " the religious predilections of the 
parents shall be respected," was evidently framed in the spirit of our C insti- 
tution, which holds the rights of conscience to be inviolable. Public edu- 
cation should be conducted on principles whidi will allbrd its advantages to 
all classes of tiie community, without detriment to their religious convictions. 
Religious liberty must be especially guarded in children, who, of themselves, 
are unable to guard against the wiles or assault of others. I appeal, then, 
gentlemen, with confidence, to your justice, that the regulations of the schools 
may be modified so as to give to Catholic pupils and teachers equal rights 
without wounding tender consciences. 

For my interposition in this matter, besides the responsibility of my station, 
J have specially to plead the assurance I have received from a respectable 
source, that some desire had been expressed to know distinctly from me, what 
modifications C.Tthoiics desire in the school system. It was also suggested 
that an appeal of this kind would receive every just consideration from the 
Board; and would anticipate etfectually the danger of public excitement on a 
point on which tlie community is justly sensitive — the sacred rights of con- 
science. 

With oreat respect I remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 

° ^ FRANCIS PATRICK, Bishop of Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia, 14lh Nov., 1842." 

The Board of Control, after considering the request of Bishop Ken- 
rick, passed the following Resolutions ; one of which however was an 
entire nullity, inasmuch as there is no Catholic Bible, which has not 
some brief comments. Yet believing that the high-minded and hono- 
rable gentlemen of the Board, were not cognizant of the fact. Bishop 
Kenrick made no complaint in respect to the restrictions. 

" Resolved, That no children be required to attend or unite in the reading 
of the Bible in the Public Schools, whose parents are conscientiously opposed 
thereto. 

"Resolved, That those children whose parents conscientiously prefer and 
desire any particular vtriion of the I5ible, without note or comuient, lie fur- 
nished with the same." 

Who is the man, Protestant or Catholic Christian, that will not pro- 
nounce these proceedings to have been perfectly equitable, such as 
even was required by the case, and which, had they been strictly ob- 
served, would have prevented any or the least ditiiculty. On their 
appearance they were received by the public witli decided approbation; 
and it was a cause of congratulation among our citizens that the ex- 
citement occasioned by the same question in New York would be 
avoided in Philadelphia. 

But the reasonable expectation was not fulfilled. In the district of 
Kensington the Resolutions of the Board of Control were disregarded 
by one of the female teachers; and tlie provision in regard to Catholic 
children openly and statedly set at nought. Conduct so disrespectful 
to the authority that had appointinl her, and so subversive of the plain- 
est principles of justic(> called for notice. Accordingly one of the 
Directors of the section directed her attention to the existing regula- 
tions, and requested an adherence to tliem. Tnis he did ; and no more 
Noii LKSS ! In proof that he went no fiu-ther, his associate Directors, 
all of whom were Protestants, sustained him in his action in the case! 
But he was a Catholic : and this circumstance allbrded a fair opportu- 
nity, as was supposed, for getting up an excitement on the Bible ques- 
tion. Accordingly public meetings were called in the District and 



22 

elsewhere. The minds of the people were abused with the report 
that an attempt had been made to remove the Bible out of the Public 
Schools, and a holy horror was expressed by individuals, who after they 
had reached their majority, never read two consecutive chapters of the 
sacred volume in their lives. The feelings of the people were ope- 
rated upon by inflammatory addresses against " Roman Catholics," 
" the Pope," " the Hierarchy of Rome," " Jesuits," " the Inquisition," 
" priestly conspirators," &c. &c. &c. ! The storm had been raised, 
and Protestant clergymen, not one of whom was a Philadelphian, suc- 
ceeded by their violent language in making that storm a perfect Avhirl- 
wind. Verily they have their reward ! Let them bear it with them, 
when they stand before the Eternal Throne ! 

This state of public feeling was considered highly favorable at the 
time, for the forming of a new party in Philadelphia. Previously, 
but little progress had been made by the Native Americans in organiz- 
ing themselves generally throughout the County of Philadelphia ; but 
the crisis that had now arrived seemed propitious. Meetings were 
every Avhere called with the caption of " The Bible in the Public 
Schools," and many enrolled themselves, who before had been indiffer- 
ent to the (Wowed object of the Association. It is qualified as the 
avowed object ; for let it be attempted to disguise the truth as it may, 
the A'afive Americnn party is sectarian : decidedly sectarian. It is 
not political ; and its leaders, they who are behind the curtain, dare 
not before High Heaven declare that it is exclusively so. If it be so, 
Avhy connect the Bible as the watch-word with the miserably wretched 
trade, the higgling trade which has long been separated from any influ- 
ence of religion, — the trade of polities'? If the Native American 
party be not sectarian, why is it, that the standing theme of its foreign 
orators and editors, is nothing but " Roman Catholics," " Irish Papists," 
" degraded slaves of the Pope ?" If the Native American party be 
not sectarian, how comes it that for months past in the vile organs of 
this party, day after day, the leading editorials have been nothing but 
the most abusive, and inflammatory, and vulgar tirades against " Irish 
Papists?" If the Native American party be not sectarian, if it be 
true; in its profession of opposition to all foreigners, how is it that it is 
only against the " miscreant Irish" that they have opened their batte- 
ries ? Are there no Protestant Irishmen amongst us? Yet not a Avord 
is said against them. Are there no German Catholics and Protestants 
amongst us? Yet they are never the objects of proscription. Are 
there no English, and Scotch, and French in our community ? Who 
has ever heard them pointed out by these exclusive patriots ? It has 
been the constant change rung upon this alarm bell, "the Irish," " the 
degraded Irish Papist." If none but Native Americans are to consti- 
tute the party, how is it, that hordes of Irish Protestants have attended 
their meetings, and have been welcomed with joy by these saviours of 
their coimiry ! In a word, if " Native Americanism" be not sectarian, 
how comes it, that two Catholic Chiirciies, one Catholic Seminary, 
TWO Catholic Parsonages, and a Catholic Theological Library, 
wiricii cannot be replaced in the widic world, have keen burnt ? 
If these men are the only lovers of their country, how was it, that in 
the sacking of the Rectory of St. Augustine's Church, the flag which 
])elongt'd to the Catholic Temperance Society, and which bore upon it 
the effigy of the " Immortal Washington," was torn to shivers, and 
then trampled upon in the mud ? 



23 

The ceaseless abuses cast upon the " Irish Papists," by three secular 
papers in Philadelphia, that are the violent organs of Native American- 
ism, it could easily have been seen would beget measures of retaliation. 
In respect to two of them, the writer has frequently heard it inquired 
on the part of our sedate Protestant citizens, wh}"- it Avas that the pro- 
per authorities did not interfere and prevent such violence and vulga- 
rity and insult : and as regards the other, a general sorrow prevailed 
that it should have degraded itself into a vehicle of religious intole- 
rance. There was hardly an epithet of bitter scorn, hardly a term of 
reproach and ridicule but " Irish Catholics" had applied to them ;. and 
applied to them in a matter too, which of all others is the nearest and 
dearest to the human heart. They must have been more or less than 
men, did they not feel deeply the indignity and injustice cast thus upon 
them. If they were a "degraded" portion of our population, could 
they be made to rise in moral character by taunts, and jeers, and con- 
temptuous terms ? If they were " stupid," " slavish," and " supersti- 
tious," " the lit creatures for Jesuitical Priests," why had they not been 
more enlightened by Protestant England, that has had the care of them 
and has long received their tythes and taxes ? Are we to abuse our 
fellow creatures, and attribute to them the worst qualities, the most 
licentious and intemperate passions, and then complain that 
"Their miscreant yells conie through the shu(idfrin<r air, 
B'lt all unseen, tlie goad and liuotted tliong 
Which lash lliem on, and drive them to des[)air."' 

After months of this inflammatory abuse by the papers and orators, 
clerical and lay, above alluded to, and when the feelings of " Irish 
Papists" had been most cruelly outraged, a meeting of Native Ameri- 
cans was called in the very heart of their population, for the purpose 
of forming a ward association. It was in Kensington ; a large majori- 
ty of the residents in the Western section of which district, are Irish. 
These are divided into two religious factions, that cherish towards each 
the most vindictive prejudices ; born with them, and sedulously kept 
alive in all their strength. The feud has been brought over to this 
land by them, and to its existence are to be rt'ferred the frequent out- 
breaks which have occurred in that division of Philadelphia. They in- 
deed are generally attributed to sfj-ikes for prices among the Irish hand- 
loom weavers : but it is acknowledged by the more candid among 
them, that the principal cause is the religious dissensions among the 
Irish Protestants or Orangemen and the Irish Catholics. The former 
have manifested the greatest sympathy for Native Americanism, though 
foreigners by birth equally with the Irish Catholics. Put the writer 
has seen niTmbers of these Orangemen taking part at the Bible meetings 
and gatherings of Native Americans : and whether members or not of 
the latter body, they seemed to have and to exercise all their privi- 
leges, with marked approbation. The agitation of the question of na- 
tive claims was there hailed by these Irish Protestants as a proper occa- 
sion for making every hostile demonstration against their old enemies : 
and the course pursued b}^ the Native American party in ringing the 
constant peals against the "Pope," &c. &c. will show that these 
Orangemen, foreigners as they are, and about as good and as bad as 
Irish Catholics, have won for themselves an immunity from })roscrip- 
tion and abuse. 

In proof of the existence of this bitter and unyielding hate among 
these Irish foreigness, let the following few facts be brii'lly stated : At 
the time when the rioters were at the height of their maddened fury, 



24 

and when St. Michael's Church was in flames, — when portions of the 
mob could be found in various parts of Kensington, a temporary frame 
chapel used by German Catholics, hardly four squares off from the Se- 
minary, was never approached. The congregation was composed of 
" ignorant Papists," but they were not " Irish Papists." At the meet- 
ing of Native Americans in the Kensington market house, a yellow 
silk handkerchief, for want of an orange one, was attached to a stick, 
and raised on the roof, amid the cheers of hundreds, and with the 
taunting exclamation, " there's the flag that was never struck !" And 
at the very time that St. Michael's was burning, " Boyne Water," the 
favorite tune of Irish Orangemen, and the cause of shedding oceans of 
blood in Ireland, was struck up on a drum ! 

Such is the population in Kensington, among whom the meeting was 
held on Friday, 3d of May. Some disorder took place, but nothing 
more seriously than unfortunately occurs, more or less of late, at all 
public assemblages. It is pretended that in the^confusion which arose, 
the national flag was trampled upon ; but it is as positively denied that 
any such indignity was offered ; that on the contrary, the flag wasthrown 
down without design by the rush which took place. The meeting thus 
dissolved, adjourned to the intersection of Germantown road and Second 
street, where it was re-organized, addressed by two Protestant cler- 
gymen, and after quietly transacting their business, peaceably adjourned. 

It is not attempted to justify this outrage upon a meeting of citizens. So 
far from it, the writer would invoke the severest punishment upon the oflend- 
ers. It is high time that puhlic order be sustained at any and every sacrifice 
— and that sacred rights be not taken away by mobs and rioters. Hut it is 
with sorrow said that the subsequent course of the Native Americans was 
marked by censurable proceedings. The organs of the party employed tiie 
most exciting language ; their most violent paper of Monday, the Gih of IMay, 
lieaded the account of llie affair of the preceding Friday, with the following 
caption — "The American flag trampled upon by Irish Papists;" and this loo 
served for the lettering of the standard borne thrnujih the streets. Another 
meeting was called at the same place, where the first disturbance occurred ; 
and the chain of terrible events which followed is known to the public. They 
have covered our city with disgrace, have vitally injured the cause of religion, 
have caused a fearful loss of human life, and made widows and orphans send 
up their wailings to the Throne of 'Tlini, who seeth !" 

A respect for the laws and their ministers, will not permit an extension of 
remarks, nor a statement of the events of the three terrible days in Philadel- 
phia. The Grand liique.-t of the County is now receiving testimony in rela- 
tion to these distressing, awful doiniis ; and a sense of propriety would alone 
forbid an interference with their province. The result of their investin;ation 
is anxiously looked for, since tiieir means for arriving at the truth of the of- 
fenders, who first resorted to fire arms, is enjoyed by that body. Let tiiat re- 
sult be what it may, the painful fact will remain, and long, long remain; that 
Philadeljihia has been disgraced in the view of all. Humanity has been out- 
raged, liv(>s have been sacrificed in a civil war, property to an immense atnount 
lias been destroyed, sanctuaries for the worship of a IMerciful Jehovah sacri- 
legiously liurnt, and the retreat for pious women razed to the dust ! And a'l 
this, through sectarian ft^uds ; all througli the bitter revilings of religionists. 
Should it appear that Irish Catholics fir.st shot at their fellow-men, let the ut- 
most ri:;or of the law be extended to them. Let them expiate their damniug 
guilt by a stern penally, liui yet let certain I'roti stants, Ameriran and Irish, 
reconcile it to their cunsciences, how far they are accountable for the dreadful 
results ! And in the time to come, may all, Protestant and Catholic, within 
Ibis once happy country, leaves to their Final .lodge "the right." and live 
whilst on eartli with each other as fellow-citizens of a land that Heaven has 
largely blessed, and which man alone can render insufficient for enjoying the 
greatest nieicies 



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